One man behind threats against US Jewish institutions, investigators say

NYPD intelligence believes that only one person is behind all of the bomb threats against Jewish institutions that have been ongoing since January.

New York City’s head of police intelligence said Thursday that investigators believe one man using a voice changer and phone spoofing device is behind most of the threats made against US Jewish institutions this year.

John Miller, deputy commissioner of Intelligence & Counter-terrorism for the New York Police Department (NYPD), appeared on the show “CBS This Morning,” describing the attacks as coordinated. The spoofing device makes it appear that the call is not coming from the number the person is using, but from within the institution, he explained.

“We have an offender with some technical prowess here,” Miller stated.

The Anti-Defamation League said that 148 threats targeting Jewish institutions have been received across the country since January. On Thursday, a Jewish children’s museum in Brooklyn was evacuated for a few hours after police investigated an emailed bomb threat.

Canadian Jewish community centers were also threatened, in Vancouver and Toronto.

One arrest has been made to date. Juan Thompson, a St. Louis man accused of making eight of the calls in an effort to harass his ex-girlfriend, has asked a federal judge in Missouri to release him on bond as he faces federal charges out of New York. Thompson’s lawyer declined comment.

Miller said the NYPD is working with federal officials, who are the lead investigators on the case, as well as with institutions in New York to help them manage responses to the threats.